Symbiotic relationship

Not far from Weber State University's campus is Lindquist Field, where several members of the Lady Wildcat Basketball Team are employed. The Raptors, a hometown minor league baseball team, have been providing these players with an almost perfect place of employment for them during the offseason. At the very entrance to the stadium there are two kiosks where two student athletes, Caitlin Anderson and Caela Mohre work. Both players upgrade free tickets for all of the home games, getting people out of General Admission and into a box seat along with a free $2.50 food voucher. This provides ample time and placements for these athletes to earn some extra money and still be able to get their summer workouts in. "It's pretty fun," WSU basketball junior Anderson said, "you work at night times so we can do our workouts in the day and we just come work at night only for like three hours at a time." Due to the job being seasonal, it allows the athletes to work without the pressure of a boss asking them to work during the regular basketball season. Since all of the Raptor job hours are in the evening, the employed players can work out and lift weights with the rest of the team during the day, giving them time to earn a little extra money on the side. For student athletes who want to stay around during the summer and keep up with their teammates, these jobs are a good way to help them afford to stay. WSU helps out the Ogden Raptors by providing student athletes who love sports, and are willing to have a job that is only available during the summer. Seasonal work is hard enough during these economic times but for a student athlete it seems to be just perfect. The benefits of this symbiotic relationship seem to be equally rewarding for both WSU and the Ogden Raptors. The Ogden City Raptors get enthusiastic people working for them, and WSU gets jobs that will help keep their students around during the summer when school isn't mandatory. "We work with Weber State athletics as much as we can," said the General Manager of the Ogden Raptors, Joey Stien. "It's good for both of us. . . we've had in the past football players and now the women's basketball team". This employment opportunity has a lot of appeal to athletes such as Anderson, Mohre and Tonya Schnibbe, all who work at the Raptors Stadium. Mohre said, "I would definitely work here next summer". These opportinities are providing a good bond between two sports programs in the local area, where student athletes can earn some extra money in the offseason and the Ogden Raptors can have local support from a nearby college.